This is maybe not a template question but let me describe what i'm looking for.

I have a quickstart template running so i can compare how you've done certain features in the demo vs my customized site using the same template.
I would like to "lock down" the quickstart version so i cant accidentally modify it, but i still need access to look at the code and such.

I'm thinking i can do this with joomla security features.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Paul

Hi Paul,

An interesting one as I think with user management it just wouldn't list the screens instead of denying access

I think you could install admin tools pro which would probably stop any compile in the template but some settings not required less to css could possibly still be changed

Have you managed to find a way of doing this?

I haven't tried anything yet but i've been contemplating possible solutions.

Obviously there is joomla user management. Just setup a user with read only and login with that user instead of admin.. my thought on this is that some of the content would not allow me to look very deeply... for example, going into the content and looking at the html code.

Another thought is to lock down the database. Remove change permissions to the user that joomla uses to read/write/modify the data. But my thinking here is that this would not stop a user from changing .html, .js, or .css files. It would only lock down the database. So, in addition to locking down the database you might also have to change the unix permissions on certain files so that no one has write permissions. Sounds kinda cumbersome solution though

Actually another option just came to mind. Could always make a backup of the website at the beginning and restore the backup to refresh the original setup to "undo" any changes.

Maybe use Akeeba backup?

Hi Paul

This tool from Akeeba may help you.

www.akeebabackup.com/products/akeeba-unite.html

From the docs:

What is UNiTE?

UNiTE is an automated, unattended backup archive restoration tool. It is software written in PHP, designed to restore and customise Joomla! and WordPress websites from ZIP, JPA and JPS files created primarily with the Akeeba Backup or Akeeba Solo software suite. It's main mission is to do so without needing your attention, in a sort of fire-and-forget manner. To this end, it relies on a CRON script running at a predefined interval, allowing UNITE to process new site definitions.

You can use this on demo sites to auto re-install a clean copy.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but may be worth considering as an option.

Regards
Ian

Thanks Ian - I'd not thought of that